Tacoma – Things To Do With Your Team

Tacoma, situated on beautiful Puget Sound, is home to a wide variety of family-friendly attractions, outdoor activities, restaurants, parks, and wildlife. Point Defiance Park is one of the area’s most popular outdoor spaces. There, visitors and residents can enjoy fine beaches, old-growth forests, botanical gardens, and historic sites. Museum Row offers world-class museums focused on topics ranging from glass art and rare manuscripts to ship building and classic cars. Tacoma is the closest city to Mount Rainier National Park and is also near the beautiful Cascade Mountain Range. While visiting Tacoma, don’t pass up this fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in the city’s lush, natural environment.

 

Point Defiance Park

Point Defiance Park is a stunning 760-acre park that offers an abundance of postcard worthy views of the Puget Sound. For this reason alone it should come as little to no surprise that Point Defiance Park has become an increasingly popular destination for more than three million people each year. Point Defiance Park includes a variety of well-marked trails. These trails range in distance from a quarter mile to just over four miles. While on one of the trails that runs through Point Defiance Park there’s a good chance you’ll pass old-growth forests, beaches, and steep cliffs.

The park also includes an aquarium and zoo where visitors can encounter polar bears, peacocks, walruses, and wolves… all in one place! Last but certainly not least, experience a garden like no other at the park’s Japanese Garden. The Japanese Garden features waterfalls, Japanese lanterns, and even a small tea house. 5400 N Pearl St, Tacoma, WA 98407

 

Owen Beach

While walking the many trails that run throughout Point Defiance Park, visitors will likely come across Owen Beach, a pleasant oceanfront park situated amidst Point Defiance Park’s 760 acres. In the summer, Owen Beach is a fantastic place to swim, kayak, canoe, sunbathe, fish, or simply stroll along the paved seaside walkway. The beach offers a lovely view of Puget Sound and Vashon Island.

Sea lions and seals often come ashore to sun themselves, however strict regulations state that people must give these incredible marine animals 100 yards of space and not approach them. Owen Beach is a great spot to host a pre or post-game picnic while snapping some memorable team photos while the sun goes down. 5605 Owen Beach Rd, Tacoma, WA 98407

 

Foss Waterway Seaport

The Foss Waterway Seaport showcases the city’s storied marine heritage by giving visitors a fascinating glimpse into an important part of Tacoma’s history: boat and ship building. The museum features a variety of informative exhibits that are sure to delight you and your team.

Just a few of the interesting objects and artifacts you’ll come across during your visit to the Foss Waterway Seaport includes models of commercial vessels made by ship builders in Tacoma, canoes made by the Willits Brothers from 1908 through 1967, early scuba equipment, antique fishing lures, sculptures of marine debris, and classic recreational boats.

As remarkable as all of these items are, the real highlight of the museum is watching volunteer shipbuilders work their magic in the wooden boat shop. Feel free to ask them whatever questions happen to come into your head. The museum also has a craft area for younger visitors as well as knowledgeable and friendly tour guides who will be more than happy to make your team’s visit to the Foss Waterway Seaport extra special. 705 Dock St, Tacoma, WA 98402

 

Chihuly Bridge of Glass

Take the team to see the awe-inspiring Chihuly Bridge of Glass exhibit at the Museum of Glass and watch as their jaws drop when they realize everything that they there see is glass. The bridge includes three distinct installations. The first is a covered section that features a ceiling made of 2,364 glass objects called the Seaform Pavilion, giving the viewer the perspective of looking at a coral reef from below.

Further down the bridge are incredible, 40-foot high Crystal Towers made of blue translucent crystal. The towers are illuminated from below, which gives off a beautiful glow.

The final installation on the bridge is Venetian Row, an 80-foot wall filled with over 100 museum quality glass sculptures. From the bridge visitors can enjoy picturesque views of Mount Rainier and the City of Tacoma. There is no charge to cross the bridge so you and your team can enjoy this one of a kind art work without spending a dime. Dock Street and Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402

 

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Museum of Glass

If you are compelled to see even more dazzling glass creations after walking across the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, visit the nearby Museum of Glass, a tapering building designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. Since its construction in 2002, the museum has not only become a Tacoma landmark, but a popular destination for all who have an appreciation for glass art. To see how these beautiful creations are made, check out one of the glass blowing demonstrations held in the museum’s 145-seat amphitheater.

The museum houses permanent collections of both 20th and 21st-century glass art as well as pieces from the Kids Design Glass program, which features glassworks made using the drawings of children as inspiration. With a gift shop full of unique souvenirs and rotating exhibits year-round, the Museum of Glass is a fantastic destination that any team would enjoy visiting. 1801 Dock Street, Tacoma, Washington 98402

 

America’s Car Museum

America’s Car Museum is home to a collection of 350 cars owned by Harold LeMay, the late founder of Harold Lemay Enterprises. The cars in the collection vary in make, model, and era. LeMay was a local businessman known for having one of the largest collection of cars in the world. In fact, his collection was even listed as the world’s largest privately owned car collection in the 1997 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records.

Visitors to America’s Car Museum can see race cars made by manufacturers like Lotus and Ferrari, as well as a 1913 Daimler, a 1926 Ford Model T pickup truck, a 1929 Cadillac, a 1932 Packard, a 1953 Citroen, and a 1966 Ford Mustang. The museum also features exhibits focused on classic and British cars, alternative fuels, BMWs, and more.

If your team is looking to have some hands-on fun, there is a Formula 1 racing simulator and a family zone where kids can relax and play. The museum also offers guided tours, a full-service café, and a gift shop selling everything from Route 66 souvenirs and model cars to car care products and Ford collectibles. 2702 E D St, Tacoma, WA 98421

 

Mount Rainier National Park

Established in 1899 by President William McKinley, Mount Rainier National Park was the country’s fifth national park. The park spans a vast 236,000 acres. The mountain for which the park is named for, Mount Rainier, holds the distinction of being the fifth highest mountain in the United States, standing out from the Cascade Mountain Range at an impressive 14,411 feet. It is so tall that its peaks are visible from many places in the greater Tacoma area.

The park is teeming with many diverse ecosystems. These include old-growth forests, gigantic glaciers, cascading waterfalls, alpine meadows dense with wildflowers, deep gorges, and sprawling valleys. It is home to an abundance of wildlife like cougars, black bears, bobcats, deer, elk, mountain goats, and many other animals, all of which roam Mount Rainier National Park freely.

Visitors can enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, climbing, sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding all throughout the park. This makes Mount Rainier National Park a fantastic outdoor destination regardless of what season it is when your team visits Tacoma. Mount Rainier National Park, WA 98304

 

Pacific Parasail

Go up, up, and away with Pacific Parasail, one of the most unique tour experiences in the Pacific Northwest. While strapped to one of their state-of-the-art parasails you’ll get the chance to experience the tranquil beauty of the South Puget Sound at an altitude higher than the 605-foot-tall Space Needle! Enjoy breathtaking views of Mount Rainier, Downtown Tacoma, Mount Baker, and the Olympic Mountains. You can also see the Seattle skyline once you reach 1,000 feet of towline. You may catch glimpses of a variety of marine life during your aerial voyage including harbor seals, jellyfish, and even whales. Just don’t be afraid to look down! Located at The Ram Restaurant and Brewery, 3001 Ruston Way, Tacoma, WA 98402

 

Everywhere you look while in Tacoma you’ll find something majestic. Whether you hike through the Cascade Mountain range, frolic in the Japanese gardens, covet Harold LeMay’s impressive car collection, or look up at a sea of glass, this area is a great place to explore the beauty of life with the entire team!